1. On March 28, 2012, high school students from Project Lead The Way, a co-curricular STEM based educational program based in Anderson, SC visited our program to begin mini research projects with members of the retrieval team. CI members shared the program’s mission with these Clemson University Implant Retrieval Program For further information on this CI program, please contact: Dr. John DesJardins (jdesjar@clemson.edu) or Dr. Melinda Harman (harman2@clemson.edu), Department of Bioengineeringjdesjar@clemson.eduharman2@clemson.edu Kevin Keith, Riley Csernica, Nicole Durig, Christine Stamer, Alison Lamb, Ryan Quinn, Kathleen Parker, Estefania Alvarez, Melinda Harman, John D. DesJardins Department of Bioengineering, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634 IntroductionInternational Translational Research The total number of implants received from our SC partners as of April 10, 2012 was 257. Below is a breakdown from our main contributors. Retrieval Protocol Acknowledgements We would like to thank the Clemson University Creative Inquiry program for supporting this work through funding and administrative assistance. We would like to thank our collaborating physicians and their institutions contributions in time and resources, and the Implant Retrieval Creative Inquiry Students, past and present. Community Outreach Cleaning Analysis Evaluation Transportation Orthopedics Today, www.slackinc.com/ Explantation CI and Program Dissemination Implant of the Month: Implant number 85 was retrieved from a 76 year old obese, diabetic patient in South Carolina in February of 2011. It was a LCS total knee replacement designed by DePuy Orthopaedics. All three pieces (femoral component, polyethylene insert, and tibial component) were removed and replaced due to “loosening of the components”. This was the patients second revision. The LCS stands for Low Contact Stress, in which the joint load is distributed over a higher surface contact area. This implant design was marketed to function more like a “normal knee”, because it allows for rotation, unlike fixed bearing implants. Rotational implants are often marketed toward young and active patients in an effort to provide greater and more natural rotation during daily activities. Implant Statistics M.E. Wabler, C.J. Wright-Walker, E. Alvarez, J.D. DesJardins, Exploration, Development, and Implementation of the Clemson University Retrieval of Explants Program in Orthopaedics (CU- REPO), Southeast Biomedical Engineering Career Conference, 2009, Washington, DC. J.D. DesJardins, E. Alvarez, M. Wabler, Exploration, Development and Implementation of the Retrieval of Explants in Orthopaedics (REPO), ASEE, 2010, Louisville, KY. E. Alvarez, M.E. Elpers, H.M. Cash, M.E. Wabler, J.D. DesJardins, Assessment of New Damage Scoring Methodology for Total Knee Replacement Retrieval Analysis, Southeast Biomedical Engineering Career Conference, 2010, Clemson, SC M. Elpers, E. Alvarez, H. Cash, M. Wabler, B. Burnikel, J. Rodrigo, J. DesJardins, Comparative Analysis of Damage to Retrieved Femoral and Tibial NexGen PS Components, Biomedical Engineering Society, 2010 Austin, TX E. Sloan, E. Alvarez, M. Elpers, H. Cash, M. Wabler, J. DesJardins, Analysis and Damage Characterization of PS Total Knee Joint Replacement Posts, Biomedical Engineering Society, 2010, Austin, TX. L. Nunez, M.K. Harman, Training for Non-Destructive Analysis of Ultra-High Molecular Weight Polyethylene Joint Replacement Bearings. Biomaterials Day, 2012, Memphis, TN. E. Alvarez, MK Harman, JD DesJardins: Development and Assessment of Knee Femoral Components Surface Damage Classification and Training Method, Orthopaedic Research Society, 2012, San Francisco, CA. differences in hip anatomy. The 20mm plastic insert is much thicker than a normal insert, and is an indication that the patient is losing more and more available bone with each subsequent revision. The Implant Retrieval Program collects explants from every region of South Carolina. Merging with the BioMotion Foundation of West Palm Beach, Florida in 2011, the program has expanded to include implants from throughout the United States and Europe. The Clemson University Implant Retrieval Program is a student led creative inquiry program created in 2008, and currently led by Dr. John DesJardins and Dr. Melinda Harman. This program provides an exciting opportunity for students to work with orthopedic surgical teams from around the state to collect and process explanted devices. Students are able to explore clinical and experimental problems associated with surgical and patient variables, implant designs, biomaterials and implant failure. This semester the program collected its 250 th implant, and now has cooperative partnerships with 11 hospitals in South Carolina, from which it collects implants. It is one of only a few implant retrieval programs in the country, and distinguishes itself by incorporating undergraduate education, biomaterials research and community outreach its mission. Figure 2: Geographic distribution of our partnerships throughout South Carolina Figure 1: Picture of Implant 85 students, sparking potential research proposals. By the end of this month the high school student teams will return to the lab for hands-on processing of implant retrievals and college preparatory research; including implant data logging, cleaning, photographing, analyzing and storing. The students will conclude their visit by giving a brief presentation about the implant they will conduct research on, to demonstrate and share the knowledge they gained from the hands on experience. The Implant retrieval program is committed to educating students in the areas of biomaterials and orthopaedic devices, and to the dissemination of student research and educational outcomes. To date, we have had 27 students participate in our program, with over 14 undergraduate research presentations at national and regional conferences. A few are listed below: TOTAL 257